A Short Story of Salman Rushdie – With Christopher Hitchens

On Valentines day 1989, the Ayatollah Khomeini, then leader of Iran, issued a fatwa against celebrated author Salman Rushdie for the apparent “blasphemy against Islam” contained within the pages of his book entitled “The Satanic Verses”. Christopher Hitchens, a great friend of Rushdie, speaks about his memories of the situation. A fascinating short story you’ve probably not heard before.

@LaughPurgatory Same here…I had never heard the pipe bomb story. It really is sad that these types of things happen over religion/fairy tales. Hitch will certainly be missed. His devotion to his friend and to the causes he believed in are quite admirable.

There’s a great documentary by the BBC called The Rushdie Affair, which details this story even further. It’s quite remarkable if you haven’t seen it. You can watch the whole thing on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-71XyNMzHY